NACDS applauds ‘fair’ card fee legislation

ALEXANDRIA, Va. A move is afoot in Congress to curtail excessive fees imposed by credit card companies for retail transactions, and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, for one, is solidly behind the effort.

NACDS today applauded action by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to address the issue of retail credit card fees.

The bipartisan bill, introduced by Conyers and Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, would ensure that credit card “interchange” fees are set in open negotiations between retailers and credit card companies.

That would mark a big change in how fees are set, and it would help level the playing field for merchants and the customers they serve, NACDS asserted. To mark its support, the organization addressed a letter to the Antitrust Task Force of the Judiciary Committee, which held a hearing today on the proposed legislation.

“The Credit Card Fair Fee Act will mean a better credit card system for consumers and pharmacies alike,” said NACDS president and chief executive officer Steve Anderson. ”We thank Chairman Conyers and Rep. Cannon for their leadership and urge all members of the House to cosponsor the bill and work for its enactment this year.”

Study finds more than half of Americans regularly take prescription meds

FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J. For the first time, a majority of Americans with health insurance have some kind of chronic health condition, and young people have experienced the largest increases.

According to research released Wednesday by Medco Health Solutions that examined the prescription claims of around 2.5 million Americans, 51 percent of insured Americans took prescription drugs to treat chronic health problems in 2007. While the elderly still constitute the largest demographic such medications, nearly half of women aged 22 to 44 and a third of men in the same age bracket were also using them. Men and women in that age group experienced a 20 percent increase in use of drugs to treat chronic conditions between 2001 and 2007.

Among men in the 20 to 44 age bracket, drugs to treat hypertension and cholesterol were among the top four, showing an increase in heart disease in this group. Nearly 30 percent of children aged 19 and younger also took chronic medications, mostly to treat asthma, allergies, depression and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Avastin/Lucentis study may reverberate through industry

NORWALK, Conn. According to IMS Health, a new clinical trial that began this year by a research institute may change the relationship between payers and the pharmaceutical industry, the Financial Times reported.

The National Eye Institute has sponsored a $16 million head-to-head trial of Genentech’s drugs Avastin and Lucentis. Lucentis is approved to treat age-related macular degeneration and Avastin is used to treat cancer but, both drugs are very similar and physicians have been using Avastin off-label for AMD.

The problem with the off-label use is the cost, as a single dose of Lucentis costs $2,000 while a bottle of Avastin can be split up to cost only $40-$75 per injection.

IMS argues that if CATT, the Institute’s study, shows Avastin to be as safe and effective for AMD as Lucentis, it may pave the way for an increasing number of payers to take comparative drug studies out of the hands of the pharmaceutical companies, especially as databases of patients make it much easier to conduct such tests.

But it warns that the move may create a disincentive for companies to study such areas, and creates untested areas of who would approve Avastin for AMD following a late-stage Phase 3 clinical trial which was conducted without any of the usual early-stage testing regulators usually require.

The study is expected to conclude in 2010 and has no involvement with Genentech.

RELATED NEWS

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic of Hoffman-La Roche’s Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) capsules from Lupin. The company’s generic will be available in 30-, 45- and 75-mg dosage strengths.
The product is inficated to treat acute, uncomplicated influenza A and B in patients 2 weeks of age and older, as well as to prevent influenza A and B in patients 1 year old and older. The drug had U.S. sales of roughly $467.8 million for the 12 months ended October 2017, according to IQVIA data.

Behavioral health pharmacy and telepsychiatry company Genoa, a QoL Healthcare Company, has reached a big number with its remote psychiatry offering. The Tukwila, Wash.-based company announced Tuesday that it had facilitated more than 100,000 telepsych consultations on its video conferencing platform.
Genoa attributes the milestone to its recent buildup of its telepsychiatry operations, which grew to include 35 in 2017 from 20 at the start of the year, and included 250 providers. In 2017, the company grew to serve more than 2,500 patients per week.

This year's flu continues to be Texas big, according to the Walgreens Flu Index released Wednesday, as the top 10 communities experiencing the greatest amount of flu incidence were all located in the Lone Star State for the week ended Jan. 6.
Iowa, Idaho and Arkansas rank behind Texas in terms of flu activity. And Montana, Idaho and Iowa ranked highest among states experiencing flu activity gains.

Amneal Biosciences has launched its generic of Otsuka’s Busulfex (busulfan injection, 6 mg/ml). The product is indicated to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia.
Amneal said that its generic is available in cartons of eight single-dose vials, each of which contains 60 mg of the drug in a 10-ml clear sterile solution. The product is made without natural rubber, latex, gluten or preservatives, Amneal said.
The drug had U.S. sales of roughly $80 million for the 12 months ended October 2017, according to data from IQVIA.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals has launched sevelamer carbonate tablets, 800 mg, in 270-count bottles. This generic from the Bridgewater, N.J.-based company is an AB-rated therapeutic equivalent to Renvela.
Amneal also launched five other products in addition to sevelamer carbonate:

Forgotten Password

Registration complete

REGISTER

USERNAME *

Spaces are allowed; punctuation is not allowed except for periods, hyphens, and underscores.

E-MAIL ADDRESS *

A valid e-mail address. All e-mails from the system will be sent to this address. The e-mail address is not made public and will only be used if you wish to receive a new password or wish to receive certain news or notifications by e-mail.

Password *

Confirm Password *

Please choose a password for your account; it must be 8 - 30 characters. .

First Name *

Last Name *

Company Name *

Job Title *

ZIP *

Are you a *

Retailer or Healthcare professional

Non-Retailer

How many stores do you operate?: *

Which best describes the business/industry you work in?: *

Which best describes your job title?: *

Please select the newsletters you would like to subscribe to

DSN A.M.
Daily news stories covering the retail drug industry

Breaking News
First-to-the-market with developing stories in the industry